Mobile Commerce (mCommerce) is building a presence in the mobile channel. Products offerings have begun to expand beyond ringtones and games into apparel, electronics and health & beauty aids. TowerGroup views mobile commerce as spanning three distinct categories: 1) Handset-based mobile content purchases (e.g., ringtones, games, music for use on the handset itself), 2) Purchases of goods and services via the mobile phone browser (e.g., buying a book on Amazon.com), 3) Purchases completed by near field communication (e.g., micropayments for purchase of newspapers, gum, or other small items by swiping a phone over a point-of-sale terminal at a news kiosk or convenience store).
Mobile Commerce Maturity
Though mobile purchases today are largely focused on content for the handset, the metrics surrounding mobile commerce are pointing towards broader goods and services. According to M:Metrics as of January, 2008 there are 219 million mobile subscribers aged 13+ in the U.S., and a total of 2.4 billion worldwide. Ten percent of U.S. subscribers have purchased ringtones and 13% have accessed news and information via a web browser. This is important to note since many shoppers use the internet to research products before they purchase, and browsers are the front end to commerce applications. Interestingly, 85% of iPhone users and 58% of Smartphone users have accessed news or information via a browser.
Taking the Lead
The iPhone offers a 3.5 inch diagonal screen with a 6 square inch viewing screen. Smartphones, for example the Blackberry is 2.75 inch in diagonal providing 4.7 square inches of viewing. A survey by Change Wave Research found that 73% of iPhone users are very satisfied with their cellphone, 55% of RIM owners are satisfied, and that feature phone users drop off from there. Other studies have shown that phones like the iPhone and Blackberry provide a much more user friendly experience due to their larger screens and keyboards. This user experience directly supports a users’ ability to key in product search and purchase information. As more phones become more user friendly, the number of subscribers researching and purchasing product on mobile phones will increase.
Mobile Commerce Components
Creating a mobile shopping capability requires investigation into multiple components including: platform selection, mobile site development, product integration, search engine marketing, mobile messaging & advertising, and offline marketing integration. It will be critical for those thinking about mobile commerce to not only create a commerce platform, but to also drive traffic to their platform and provide the same level of servicing given to those buying products from PC based commerce sites. It is possible to test mobile commerce with out incorporating all the components, but all will be needed for a robust mobile capability.
Mobile Commerce Strategy
How do you create a successful mobile commerce capability? Here are a few ideas: include a mobile URL on all offline media (unless you are using device detection on your server), provide the ability for PC site users to sign up for opt-in text messaging so you can send push WAP messages, advertise on mobile sites with banners, links and other mobile tactics, register mobile URLs with directories, participate with aggregator mobile commerce platforms like mShopper or Digby, develop a branded mobile commerce site in addition to the aggregator platform, and create a branded mobile site as a front end to a mobile commerce application.
Are You Ready for Mobile?
The key is to start getting through the mobile commerce learning curve now while carriers and handset manufacturers are getting through theirs. Getting up and running with basic mobile commerce is relatively inexpensive to do. Unlike the PC Internet growth rate mobile acceptance by consumers will be much quicker, so my suggestion is that marketers begin to test the waters and invest dollars into building their presence in mobile commerce now. http://www.ruready4mobile.com/
Scott M. Alexander
President – Marketing Enablement
scott.alexander@marketingenable.com
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Mobile Direct Marketing - Are Your Ready for Mobile?
The direct marketing arsenal has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 15 years to include: a slew of offline vehicles, direct response television, database marketing, and customer relationship marketing. Now direct marketers have a new channel to play with, mobile! According to M:Metrics as of January, 2008 there are 219 million mobile subscribers aged 13+ in the U.S., and a total of 2.4 billion worldwide.
Personalization
The mobile channel has the potential to provide the ultimate in 1 to 1 marketing since mobile devices like smartphones, PDAs and feature phones have become extensions of consumer personalities, and employee tools. “Never leave home without it” has become a reality. When was the last time you left your home without your mobile phone, or left your mobile phone in your car? We love our phones, treat them with care and respond to calls, text messages, IMs and emails almost immediately. If we receive a message, we know it is meant for us! By the way, the number 1 & 2 mobile phones of choice, the Motorola KRZR K1c and the Motorla RAZR V3, according to admob.
Growing Quickly
The mobile channel like the Internet in its infancy is growing along technology lines. For example, desktop email was the precursor to PC Internet access. Text messaging (SMS) has reached a saturation point in certain demographics, and if you believe history it is a precursor to the explosion of consumers using applications like browsers on a mobile device. Downloads are beginning to gain traction but typically they are small files like ring tones, music and games. As connection speeds become faster and as the cost to connect at higher speeds begins to drop, the mobile channel will see a saturation of mobile browsing and customized application usage as well. Today, 84% of mobile phones support WAP push messages, and 58% are able to download video clips. Watch out for the iPhone, with a 3.5 inch diagonal screen it is proving to be the right size to support mobile browsing with 85% of owners accessing news and information.
Variability
Mobile devices will open the door for direct marketers to reach their consumers of choice through multiple mobile tactics like, SMS, MMS, keywords/shortcodes, banners, interstitials, video billboards, mobile sites and proprietary applications. And the list will grow as device manufacturers and carriers build and enable more features!
Add to this the fact that mobile phones have multiple input and output capabilities that can produce an almost unlimited configuration of marketing creativity. Output interfaces include: the screen, speaker, infrared, Bluetooth, local wireless (Wi-Fi), cellular wireless and unique terminal identification. Input interfaces include: the keypad, touchscreen, microphone, camera, RFID chip reader, GPS, infrared, Bluetooth, local wireless (Wi-Fi) and cellular wireless. For example, a bluecast is sent to a customer walking a casino floor, the customer responds to the bluecast by entering information on their touchscreen, a video is sent streaming to their screen and music is played through the device speaker. The user calls the casino host to buy concert tickets.
Measurement
The mobile channel has been going through checks and balances by different industry groups to ensure measurement is consistent and accurate. The mobile channel though will provide vast amounts of data to feed the analytic cravings for ROI based direct marketing campaigns. Data access is largely controlled by the carriers who will continue to open their data stores to help marketers justify spending dollars on mobile campaigns.
Today marketers can target advertising by handset, carrier, area code, zip code, demographic, income level, gender and in some instances location. Measurements include click-thru rate, cost per click, post click data, location & demographic behavior. New metrics like Click to Call and Click to Download will be incorporated into modeling.
Are You Ready for Mobile
Direct marketers should begin to understand the mobile channel now, since unlike the PC Internet growth rate, mobile acceptance by consumers and businesses will be much quicker. The mobile channel will evolve from technology driven execution like SMS into fully integrated campaigns using multiple tactics and device input/output capabilities. Direct marketers should begin to test the waters and invest dollars into building their presence in the mobile channel now. http://www.ruready4mobile.com/
Scott M. Alexander
President – Marketing Enablement
scott.alexander@marketingenable.com
Personalization
The mobile channel has the potential to provide the ultimate in 1 to 1 marketing since mobile devices like smartphones, PDAs and feature phones have become extensions of consumer personalities, and employee tools. “Never leave home without it” has become a reality. When was the last time you left your home without your mobile phone, or left your mobile phone in your car? We love our phones, treat them with care and respond to calls, text messages, IMs and emails almost immediately. If we receive a message, we know it is meant for us! By the way, the number 1 & 2 mobile phones of choice, the Motorola KRZR K1c and the Motorla RAZR V3, according to admob.
Growing Quickly
The mobile channel like the Internet in its infancy is growing along technology lines. For example, desktop email was the precursor to PC Internet access. Text messaging (SMS) has reached a saturation point in certain demographics, and if you believe history it is a precursor to the explosion of consumers using applications like browsers on a mobile device. Downloads are beginning to gain traction but typically they are small files like ring tones, music and games. As connection speeds become faster and as the cost to connect at higher speeds begins to drop, the mobile channel will see a saturation of mobile browsing and customized application usage as well. Today, 84% of mobile phones support WAP push messages, and 58% are able to download video clips. Watch out for the iPhone, with a 3.5 inch diagonal screen it is proving to be the right size to support mobile browsing with 85% of owners accessing news and information.
Variability
Mobile devices will open the door for direct marketers to reach their consumers of choice through multiple mobile tactics like, SMS, MMS, keywords/shortcodes, banners, interstitials, video billboards, mobile sites and proprietary applications. And the list will grow as device manufacturers and carriers build and enable more features!
Add to this the fact that mobile phones have multiple input and output capabilities that can produce an almost unlimited configuration of marketing creativity. Output interfaces include: the screen, speaker, infrared, Bluetooth, local wireless (Wi-Fi), cellular wireless and unique terminal identification. Input interfaces include: the keypad, touchscreen, microphone, camera, RFID chip reader, GPS, infrared, Bluetooth, local wireless (Wi-Fi) and cellular wireless. For example, a bluecast is sent to a customer walking a casino floor, the customer responds to the bluecast by entering information on their touchscreen, a video is sent streaming to their screen and music is played through the device speaker. The user calls the casino host to buy concert tickets.
Measurement
The mobile channel has been going through checks and balances by different industry groups to ensure measurement is consistent and accurate. The mobile channel though will provide vast amounts of data to feed the analytic cravings for ROI based direct marketing campaigns. Data access is largely controlled by the carriers who will continue to open their data stores to help marketers justify spending dollars on mobile campaigns.
Today marketers can target advertising by handset, carrier, area code, zip code, demographic, income level, gender and in some instances location. Measurements include click-thru rate, cost per click, post click data, location & demographic behavior. New metrics like Click to Call and Click to Download will be incorporated into modeling.
Are You Ready for Mobile
Direct marketers should begin to understand the mobile channel now, since unlike the PC Internet growth rate, mobile acceptance by consumers and businesses will be much quicker. The mobile channel will evolve from technology driven execution like SMS into fully integrated campaigns using multiple tactics and device input/output capabilities. Direct marketers should begin to test the waters and invest dollars into building their presence in the mobile channel now. http://www.ruready4mobile.com/
Scott M. Alexander
President – Marketing Enablement
scott.alexander@marketingenable.com
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